1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to an electrical sunshade assembly for shielding a window of an automobile, more particularly to an electrical sunshade assembly which is easy to assemble and which can be manufactured at a relatively low cost.
2. Description Of The Related Art
Most conventional sunshades for shielding a window of an automobile are operated manually. However, such sunshades are inconvenient to use, especially by the driver.
To overcome the problem of inconvenient operation of the conventional sunshades, an electrical sunshade assembly has been proposed. The known electrical sunshade assembly includes a tubular mounting unit adapted to be mounted securely in the automobile adjacent to the window. The mounting unit is formed with a longitudinally extending slot. A longitudinally extending rotatable shaft extends rotatably in the mounting unit between two ends of the mounting unit. The shaft has two opposed end portions that are threaded in opposite directions. Two movable members are mounted respectively and threadably on the end portions of the shaft and are restricted to rotate synchronously with the shaft such that rotation of the shaft results in movement of the movable members along the shaft. The electrical sunshade assembly is provided with a driving unit which includes a bidirectional motor unit for driving the shaft to rotate in opposed first and second direction. Rotation of the shaft in the first direction causes movement of the movable members away from each other, while rotation of the shaft in the second direction causes movement of the movable members toward each other. A screen unit is located adjacent to the slot of the mounting unit and is parallel to the mounting unit. The screen unit includes an axially rotatable roller and a sun screen which has a first end portion connected to the roller and a second end portion. The roller is biased to wind the sun screen normally thereon. Each of two linking rods has a first end portion connected pivotally to the second end portion of the sun screen at a respective one of two opposed edges of the sun screen, and a second end portion connected pivotally to a respective one of the movable members such that movement of the movable members away from each other causes unwinding of the sun screen from the roller to shield the window and such that movement of the movable members toward each other causes winding of the sun screen on the roller.
It should be noted that the manufacturing cost of the shaft is relatively high, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost of the known electrical sunshade assembly.